Ultra-Orthodox Israelis protest against military conscription order

Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men poured into the streets of Jerusalem on Sunday night to protest against Israel’s top court’s decision on mandatory military conscription.

“We all declare to the court: we’ll die, we won’t enlist,” reads one of the posters.

According to the Supreme Court’s ruling last week, there is no legal basis for exempting ultra-Orthodox religious scholars from mandatory military conscription. 

The decision raises the political stakes for the two ultra-Orthodox political parties upon which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s thin parliamentary coalition rests. Carving out military-service exemptions is one of their key political goals. Without that their religious leaders say they have no reason to be in the government.